Casual Badminton Oxford

All the info you need before joining

Join us twice per week for a fun and friendly casual badminton session! Our sessions are designed to be inclusive and enjoyable for all abilities.

Event Details

• 🕒 When: Every Thursday evening
• 📍 Where: Ferry Leisure Centre, Oxford
• 🛠️ Equipment: All equipment is provided including the court, nets, rackets and shuttlecocks. 
• Other: Parking is at an attached paid council car park.

Please note there are only 11 spaces available to ensure everyone gets plenty of gametime. Places are allocated on a first come first served basis.

🎯 What to Expect

Our sessions focus on:

• Socialising: Meet new people and enjoy the community spirit while building into the session with an easy ~10 minute warmup consisting of rallies. 
• Casual Play: Engage in friendly doubles matches to 11 with constant rotation after every game so you can play with and against whoever you like.
• Skill Development: Opportunities to improve your game in a supportive environment. The event lead will ensure you play on a court with other players at your level. Equally, if you'd like to take it easy or push yourself feel free to jump on a court with whoever you like. 

📘 Basic Rules of Badminton

Before jumping straight in it is always helpful to know the basic rules of badminton:

• Scoring: Matches are normally consist of three sets of 21 points. We play to 11 to ensure ample game time for everyone. A point is scored once the shuttlecock hits the floor or does not cross the net. Singles courts are long and thin, doubles are long and wide.
• Serving: The shuttlecock must be hit from below the servers waist diagonally across the court to their opponents side and land after their opponents server line. Top tip - if your score is even you should be serving from the right hand side.
• Faults: Includes hitting the shuttlecock out of bounds, into the net, or if it touches the ground within your side.

Doubles Play: Each side has only one service. The service passes consecutively between players.

For a comprehensive overview, refer to the Simplified Rules of Badminton by BWF or see this video. If you have any questions about the rules please reach out to the session lead.

📝 How to Sign Up

Joining is easy:

• Online sign-up: Visit our homepage and click "join" on an event you like. For badminton in Oxford simply join one of the events at the top of this page.
• Payment: Secure your spot by completing the online payment process through Stripe. Memberships will be coming soon. 
• Confirmation: You'll receive a confirmation email with session details and a link to the WhatsApp group chat.
• WhatsApp: After you've joined you will be emailed a link to join our WhatsApp groups. Feel free to pop any questions you may have in these.

Note: Limited spots available to ensure quality playtime for all participants.

🧍 Who Can Join?

Our sessions are open to:

• Relaxed players: Players of all levels looking for a chill, judgement free environment to play in.
• Beginners: New to badminton? We'll guide you through the basics.
• Intermediate: Looking to refine your skills? Join us for slightly more competitive yet friendly games.

All abilities are welcome, please note you must be at least 18 years old to attend.

🏆 Top 3 Benefits of Playing Badminton

Engaging in regular badminton sessions offers numerous health benefits, here are our top three:

1. Physical and Cardiovascular Health: Enhances heart function, endurance, flexibility and muscle strength[1].
2. Mental Well-being: Reduces stress and improves mood whilst improving your skill level is known to boost confidence[2]. 
3. Social Engagement: Builds connections and fosters community spirit in a welcoming environment [3]. Playing any sport makes breaking the ice easier, and the friends you make feel genuine[4]. 

Learn more about the health benefits of playing badminton here.

📞 Contact Us

For any queries or further information:

Email: andy@thesocialsport.com.

Social Media: Follow us on Instagram and TikTok for updates.